I Am Here
by SugarDee
Summary: After smiling and pretending that everything was fine, she could drop the act and cry for as long as she wanted for nobody was at home.


_A/N: I was in the mood to write a sad story. I don't know what happened, it just came to me. Anyway, I wanted this to be a RonHermione story. But since I haven't written a HeijiKazuha for really long time, I decided to do just that._

_Disclaimer: All characters belong to Aoyama Gosho._

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I AM HERE

It was one of the worst days she had to go through. She wasn't alone; she knew that. She had friends and her parents around her. She had _him_, for God's sake. But she couldn't really tell him what's wrong as she realized how awkward they'd been after a kiss was shared between them a few days ago.

That kiss was actually an accident. She hadn't meant to kiss him with all her might. To say that she didn't _want_ to kiss him though was an understatement. She'd wanted to kiss his lips for years already. But she didn't have the guts to do so as she thought that boys should make the first move. That boy was too clueless to notice any hints she'd been dropping ever since.

It was a Saturday evening. They were both on their way back to her house with his motorcycle. She was so happy that night because he had been really nice to her all day; he hadn't even insulted her. Having arrived at the destination, she got off the bike and gave him the helmet she wore. As usual (it had been their tradition ever since they were both graduated from high school), she kissed his cheek. Well she _went_ to kiss his cheek, but suddenly he turned his head towards her. And suddenly, they were kissing.

They were surprised at first. But as time flew by, his hands were suddenly on her hips whereas hers were around his neck. The kiss was slow and passionate as though they knew they had all the time in the world. They didn't care if her parents were watching from the window; they just cared about themselves.

Out of the blue, they heard something not too far away from them. They immediately let go of each other. As she realized what had just happened, she widened her eyes and quickly ran to her front door without even turning around to say thanks and good bye. Closing the door, she leaned against it once she's inside the house, panting.

_What have I done,_ she thought, clutching at her chest.

That night she couldn't sleep. She thought about what happened outside with him. Of course she liked how gentle he was when they were kissing. Blushing, she touched her lips. She could still remember the feeling of his lips on hers. It was … indescribable. She had no words for it.

In the end, she concluded that she would have to talk to him the next day. She had to know what he felt about her. She had to know where they were; were they still friends or were they going out?

The next morning was one of the slowest mornings she had ever experienced. She couldn't wait to meet him even though she felt nervous about it. Having done with every morning routine, she sat tight waiting for him to come and pick her up.

She heard a bike stopping in front of her house. Knowing who it was, she immediately stood up and bid her parents good bye. Once she's outside, she saw him on his motorcycle, his helmet already on his head. She couldn't see his expression as he offered her the helmet she always wore. Right after she had settled behind him, they took off.

The rest of the day went peacefully and quietly. But she didn't want peace and quiet; she wanted to fight with him since he hadn't even uttered a single word to her but a simple conversation that was usually exchanged between strangers. She wanted to talk to him, especially about what happened last night.

But they didn't.

She hated it when they weren't in speaking terms. She hated it because she couldn't stand _not_ talking to him. That day, it was so awful that she took her time in showering. Usually she spent 15 minutes in the bathroom, 20 minutes tops. But that day, she was inside for more than 30 minutes. She took her time to let all the warm water to flow from her head to toe while simultaneously letting her tears to pour as well. Nobody knew it, except herself.

That was then.

She had just got her exam results not too long ago. Her classmates were talking about it, saying that the results they got were not the best. Her heart started pounding faster as she heard it. She thought she did her best on her exams, but she didn't know if the fate would be on her side or not.

She went back home with him. This time, she made sure she didn't kiss him as their friendship was still as awkward as before. Thanking him, she walked to the front door and waved her hand at him. She then walked up the stairs, going to her room. She took out the letter she received while they were in College.

He had opened his before they went back home. He of course had done brilliantly for his exams, although he did feel disappointed as he saw that one of the results was not as perfect as he expected. She silently rolled her eyes, hoping that he wouldn't notice and that they wouldn't get into arguments when their friendship was still 'loose'.

She let out a deep breath, her hands on the unopened letter. She was so nervous, her hands were shaking. Her heart beat fast; so fast, she's scared the heart would come out of its location. She took a deep breath again as she opened the envelope. She closed her eyes, taking out the paper. She took a peek to ensure that the paper wasn't upside down.

There it was: her name, along with the subjects she had taken for the semester, with the results at the side. She opened the other eye and started reading very slowly as she wanted to take some time in finding out about her results.

Her first three results were okay, brilliant even if she was completely honest. She didn't expect those to be as good as the ones she had got. She let out her breath she didn't realize she was holding. The last one however was the result she wasn't looking forward to. This one was the exam whose result was not the best as her classmates had said.

She looked away before daring herself to just get it over with. She closed one of her eyes and took a look. She was greatly disappointed as she saw the first number of the result: 4. She didn't bother to finish looking as she knew that she had failed the subject.

She immediately felt tears forming on her eyes. But she couldn't cry right now as her parents were still around. She would have to wait for them to go out for an occasion her mother had been waiting before she could cry her eyes out.

And that time finally came. After smiling and pretending that everything was fine, she could drop the act and cry for as long as she wanted for nobody was at home. Her parents would only be back late. She went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Switching it to warm, she got in, not bothering to take off her clothes. She carefully sat on the floor, her knees on her chest, and started crying.

"Why did I fail this subject?" she whispered over and over again. She kept on hitting her head with the wall she was leaning against, albeit carefully as to not fall into unconsciousness. She didn't want to end up in the hospital.

She was busy crying that she didn't hear the front door open and close. She didn't hear that someone calling for her name. She didn't hear that someone was just in front of the bathroom door. She didn't even hear that someone was screaming for her name, demanding her to know what's wrong.

The newcomer turned off the shower and took her towel. He easily picked her up and quickly dried off all the water from her body with the towel. She was still crying as all of these happened. And she still didn't realize who it was even when he walked her to her bedroom where she was sat at her bed.

"Kazuha, please stop crying," Heiji pleaded, as he was on his knees in front of her. "Your eyes are already swollen." He took her hands in his. "What's wrong?"

She cleared her throat, brushing her tears away. "I wouldn't be able to graduate with you."

Heiji stayed quiet for a while. "What do you mean? I don't understand."

With her hands, she pointed to the paper on top of her bed behind her. He stood up from his position to take it. He was quiet again as he found out what the content was. With the paper in hand, he took a seat beside her.

"It's all right."

Kazuha shook her head. "It's not," she replied. "I have to stay back for another semester, whereas you will be out already." She started crying again. "I'll be alone then."

Heiji took her into his arms. "You won't be the only one. I'm sure there are others too." He caressed her hair. "I'll definitely come to your graduation."

"That's not the only problem, Heiji," she said. She paused before continuing, "How am I supposed to tell my parents? They expected me to graduate at the same time as you do. Now I have to repeat a whole semester."

He ran his hand up and down her back, trying to sooth her crying that had suddenly become harder.

"I don't want to see their disappointed faces when I tell them the news. They'll be devastated."

"I'm sure they won't be angry at you for that," said Heiji. "Of course they will be disappointed, but they won't stop talking to you just for that reason."

"It's the same thing," she said, still crying. "I don't want to embarrass my parents and myself."

"Hey, they're not embarrassed by you," he whispered. "They're proud of you. They always are." He then paused. "_I_ am proud of you. You're a brave person." He pulled her back. "You're great."

That made Kazuha cried even louder. She hugged him again.

"I'm sorry for kissing you like that a few days ago," said Heiji after a moment of silence. "I didn't mean to surprise you." He pulled her back again. "But I didn't regret it." He ran his fingers along her cheek. "I love you, Kazuha."

The girl suddenly pulled his head closer and started kissing his lips. Once separated, she leaned her forehead against his. "I love you too, Heiji. I'm sorry for making you worry today."

They spent the rest of the night lying on her bed, with her head on top of his chest. They talked about the kiss incident; how awkward it was for him to start talking to her as he thought she was angry at him for kissing her so suddenly, how weird it was for them to not speak as often as usual, but how wonderful it was that they had both finally declared their love to each other.

"Ne, Kazuha? I know you have to extend for one more semester, but don't worry too much about it," he said. "I'll help you through all of it. Just tell me if you have some problems with the subjects. I'll come to your house and help you. All night long if you want." He paused. "Even if it's just small, tell me."

Kazuha smiled. "Even if I can't find my eraser?"

"Even if you can't find your pencil lead."

They laughed.

"But I'm serious, Kazuha," he said after they had stopped laughing. "I will come here and help you."

She turned to lie on her stomach and kissed the side of his mouth. "Thank you, Heiji. For everything that you've done tonight."

Heiji smiled. "I am here for you always."

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_A/N: To be honest, this happened to me before: the part where Kazuha went to the bathroom and cried under the shower. But in my case, nobody like Heiji came to my rescue. By the way, I'm sorry if Kazuha in this story is a bit (or a lot) like drama queen. I didn't mean to do that. Anyway I hope you enjoy reading this. I realise the ending is a bit off. But nevertheless, please don't forget to review._

_Til next time.._

_P.S: Happy Holidays!_


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